Music streaming and podcast platforms such as Spotify might have helped revive the radio star, but now they’re heading in the visual direction, as Spotify has just announced that it is beta testing a new music video feature.
By offering music videos on the platform, the app will be able to compete with similar services like YouTube and Apple Music.
The beta launch will be available to Premium users, but there’s a catch: It isn’t available in America yet. Instead, the product will be tested in the U.K., Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Brazil, Colombia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Kenya.
A select catalog of music videos will be offered to Premium users in these countries, including music videos from Doja Cat, Ice Spice, Ed Sheeran and local favorites in the listener’s specific region.
Spotify
Music videos make up the most popular content on YouTube, with 8 out of 10 of the most-viewed videos on the platform being music videos, according to data from 2022. This has been consistently true for YouTube since 2010, with artists like Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber garnering views in the billions.
In offering music videos, Spotify hopes to reclaim users who have gone elsewhere for their music video fix, while also providing another avenue for artists on Spotify to reach new audiences.
“So many times in my own experience and for countless others, music videos play a key role in hooking you: taking you from being a listener to leaning in and becoming a fan,” Charlie Hellman, vice president and head of music product at Spotify, said in a press statement. “They’re an important part of so many artists’ toolkits, and it’s a natural fit for them to live in the same place that more than half a billion people choose to listen to music.”
For the select Premium users who will be part of the beta testing, Spotify’s music videos can be accessed by toggling to “Switch to Video” on supported tracks. While not everyone will get to test out this new feature yet, Spotify has told its users to “stay tuned” and that it hopes to add more catalogs and more countries to this offering soon.
This story originally appeared on Simplemost.
